I like to compare myself to a flying penguin: Not originally built for the task at hand but perfectly capable of doing it.
My professional career started after graduating university in Zurich. An opportunity presented itself to open up a small printing business in my city and I jumped on it. From the very beginning I was confronted with the hard realities of having to manage multiple roles. I was the manager during opening hours, the technician during evenings and the bookkeeper during nights. Whenever there was a spare minute or two, I would work on the business website or a marketing campaign. I was completely envelopped in the reality of running a small business.
This is where I learned what it takes to make do with the resources you have, not with those that you wish for. Sure, it would have been nice to hire a professional to develop an application for PDF analysis on our website, but the reality was I had to program it myself.
I have started several businesses over the years - some of them more successful than others, but all of them came with valuable lessons.
If you are looking for a hard-working, creative problem solver, I wholeheartedly believe that I can bring value to your business. I have a strong technical background with a clear focus on WordPress and WooCommerce with their underlying technologies but most importantly you will get a partner that understands what it takes to run the various areas of a small business and will support you in more than just the technical side of things.
I started teaching myself HTML with a book that I recieved from my dad when I was a teenager.
Today I still encounter having to write HTML, although with modern visual builders it has become more rare.
CSS
The fun in designing websites originally came with learning CSS in-depth. Knowing how to write CSS from the ground up is as important today as it was in the early internet times. This is why I make sure to stay up to date.
PHP
My PHP career started as a hobby even before WordPress was first released. Around the year 2000 I was an avid Starcraft player with my brothers and friends. When our group was eventually in need of a website to organise tournaments and talk to each other, I picked up a book and built it.
This is how I eventually discovered WordPress and it's infinite possibilities.
Javascript / React
Modern WordPress has been introducing React for a while now and it has become an indispensable skill as a WordPress professional.
Adobe Creative Suite
As the owner of a business in the printing industry I have become more than familiar with Adobe Creative Suite. I can handle Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign with ease and work seamlessly with graphic designers.
Additional skills
I have a good knowledge of a very wide variety of tools used for web development. Some of those are MySQL, Plesk, Google Analytics, Ads & Search Console, Facebook Ads, Pinterest Ads, Mailchimp etc.
Portfolio
Check out some of the work that I have done over the years. It includes a variety of WordPress websites and WooCommerce webshops. Each project came with their unique challenges and requirements.
The hair salon cut4you urgently needed an updated website with the ability to make their own changes. The design needed to be modernized and made responsive. The site overall should have a more appealing look. Key requirements included the integration of Google Reviews, an appointment booking tool, and links to social media channels.
The event venue Anitas Events in Winterthur needed a redesign of its website. A key requirement was to enable ticket sales for events directly through the website and to offer various payment methods. Additionally, the content presentation needed to be better structured and organized.
The customer is a local association building a network in the food space. It brings together food producers, farms and food cooperatives. The association needed a website showcasing what it does and offers. The requirements included various static pages, a blog and building an interactive map showcasing all involved parties.
This project is near and dear to my heart as I am very passionate about sustainable food production. As a member of various food cooperatives I have clearly seen the need for a simple, yet powerful tool that allows foodcoops to be more efficient.
The customer is a small business importing and selling high quality, organic food products mainly to B2B customers. Prices and stock levels need to be grabbed in real time from the customers ERP solution (Bexio). Business customers need to see and order for bulk prices. Furthermore the customer needed the implementation of a complex shipping structure with various options based on the weight of the cart.
The customer had a self-built WordPress website. He offers courses and workshops for further training in the field of natural wines and wanted a way to sell tickets directly via the website. The website should also look modern, have a clear structure and be responsive.
The customer is an adult toy web shop with a focus on queer and LGBT+ friendly products. The layout and design of the shop was previously done by a graphic designer and needed to be implemented with pixel perfect precision. The customer wanted a good presentation of the products with filtering options, integration of reviews, newsletter integration and other typical e-commerce functions.
The customer needed a website quickly. The main feature is a complex price calculator for various different print products. Visitors should be able to instantly calculate prices in a quick and understandable fashion. The underlying pricing logic has to be adjustable easily by the print shop operator. Customers should then be able to upload their designs and order the product all in one form. Furthermore the website needed to feature an FAQ and some basic pages with information.
The customer needed a website, had a very specific design in mind and had graphics and pictures prepared. As a therapist, the most important part of the website was to showcase her offer, experience and diplomas and to have an easy way of contacting her.
The customer is a classical singer and needed a classic portfolio website to showcase her work. Implementation of high quality photos and videos was important.
My work: Requirements: The customer is a biologist, wolf researcher and environmentalist in the Himalayan region. She needed a website for her organization with a lot of self-created content in the form of text, images and videos. The content should be responsive and clearly presented. Forms should also be integrated into the page. Solution: A […]
The customer was a small business specialising in custom gift boxes. Visitors could create a gift box by choosing several products and designing a greeting card to go with the products. The user interface included a screen to choose the products, a custom coded card editor and a custom checkout screen.
